-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- If he had been listening from his car Monday morning , radio veteran Steak Shapiro knew what he would have thought of a bit mocking a former New Orleans Saint now battling Lou Gehrig 's disease .

`` I would have been offended . ''

Why ? The now former host of `` Mayhem in the AM '' on Atlanta 's 790 The Zone offered up plenty of reasons in an interview Tuesday with CNN 's Brooke Baldwin . And none of his descriptions of the now infamous two-minute radio bit were positive .

Stupid . Not thought out . Offensive . Awful . And not funny .

`` You walk a fine line trying to be somewhat on the edge , '' Shapiro said . `` We blew it . We blew it in a huge way . ''

Shapiro and the show 's two other hosts -- Chris Dimino and Nick Cellini -- were fired Monday evening .

It all started , he explained , as the show 's crew batted around ideas during a commercial break . The Atlanta Falcons are big in Georgia , and the New Orleans Saints are likely their biggest rivals . And it just so happened that Gleason , one of the men most associated with the Louisiana team , had been the guest writer for Peter King 's popular `` Monday Morning Quarterback '' column this week on SI.com .

But Gleason is n't just any Saint . He 's a hero in New Orleans not just for his play as a defensive back but , more recently , for his battle against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , a neuromuscular disease also known by its acronym ALS and as Lou Gehrig 's disease .

The illness has hindered many of Gleason 's functions , but it has n't stopped him . To put together the column , he pointed out , he used technology that allowed him to type with his eyes . Gleason also explained his struggles with , and triumphs over , the disease .

`` ALS prevents your brain from talking to your muscles . As a result , muscles die . As a result , every 90 minutes people die , '' he wrote . `` I am a person . ''

The `` Mayhem in the AM '' crew decided to spoof Gleason 's illness , specifically , the fact he speaks with a synthetic voice . The segment featured punchlines of an imaginary Gleason telling knock-knock jokes , using a would-be synthesizer , with punchlines like `` Smother me , do me a favor . ''

On Tuesday , Shapiro offered no defense for the segment , which he described as quickly conceived and ill-advised . At the outset , he realized the bit was n't funny but was n't prepared as it quickly got slammed on social media and beyond .

`` The pressure is to try to do a good radio show , and that was n't a good moment , '' Shapiro recalled . `` It was a horrible moment . ''

Within hours , the radio station and its parent company had suspended Cellini , Dimino and Shapiro . By day 's end , they were all out of a job .

`` 790 The Zone , our owners , sponsors and partners in no way endorse or support this kind of content . We sincerely apologize to Mr. Gleason , his family and all those touched by ALS , '' Rick Mack , the station 's general manager , said in a statement

All three hosts have apologized on Twitter and personally to the Team Gleason foundation , as Gleason himself wrote on Facebook .

`` Received and accepted , '' he wrote . `` We have all made mistakes in this life . How we learn from our mistakes is the measure of who we are . ''

Since the story broke , Gleason said , there 's been a lot of talk about ALS , an ailment he characterizes as being `` not -LRB- well -RRB- understood ... and largely ignored . '' Hopefully , this unintentional uproar will help change that , he said .

That 's Shapiro 's hope as well . At the same time , he 's personally shaken for his part in offending so many -- including Gleason , those fighting ALS and the city of New Orleans . The 18-year radio veteran knows New Orleans well : he attended Tulane University , was married in the city and even has a daughter named Nola .

`` It 's a place I understand their passions and their heroes , '' Shapiro said , counting Gleason as one such hero . `` And to make fun of those , it 's an awful thing . I feel awful about it . ''

Outrage over radio hosts ' comments is hardly unprecedented , especially in a `` shock jock '' age in which some push the line in order to entertain listeners .

And sometimes the hosts get fired . That 's what happened when Gregg Hughes and Anthony Cumia 's `` Opie and Anthony '' show got pulled in 2002 for a stunt in which they broadcast descriptions of people having sex in public places , including New York 's St. Patrick Cathedral . Five years later , CBS abruptly ended Don Imus ' radio show after his remarks about Rutgers University 's women 's basketball program that some deemed racist and sexist .

Both Imus and `` Opie and Anthony '' are still in the radio business and have nationwide followings .

More recently , two popular Australian radio DJs made headlines for a prank call targeting a pregnant Catherine Duchess of Cambridge that was followed by the suicide of a nurse fooled by their call .

Those radio hosts were suspended , not fired . That 's what should have happened to Cellini , Dimino and Shapiro , according to Sirius XM radio host Jay Thomas of New Orleans , where he says `` Steve Gleason is an icon . '' Thomas is an accomplished actor , winning three Emmy awards as Candice Bergen 's love interest , talk show host Jerry Gold , on `` Murphy Brown . '' He also worked on `` Cheers , '' playing hockey star Eddie LeBec , husband of Rhea Perlman 's Carla Tortelli .

Thomas -- who admits being a `` huge Saints fan '' who does n't like Atlanta -- believes 790 the Zone 's management overreacted to `` a bad joke . '' He noted that TV shows such as `` Family Guy '' have repeatedly featured caricatures of Steven Hawking , who also has ALS and uses a synthetic voice , in its shows with no equivalent uproar .

The Atlanta saga would have ended better if the fired radio hosts , after being suspended for some time , had returned to talk about ALS with Gleason and raised money for the cause , said Thomas .

`` That was a dumb thing to say , but no one is yelling for them to get fired , '' Thomas told CNN . '' ... It 's a terrible thing , a stupid thing . But yeah , you make mistakes . ''

CNN 's Matt Smith and Joe Sutton contributed to this report .

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An Atlanta radio station fires three hosts for mocking ex-Saints player Steve Gleason

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Gleason has ALS and speaks with a synthetic voice , which the hosts spoofed

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Accepting the hosts ' apologies , Gleason says he hopes more learn about ALS

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A New Orleans-based radio host says the hosts should n't have been fired